Carteret man cleared in cousin's Christmas Eve shooting death

Javion Camacho kissed his fiancee and embraced his lawyer after Superior Court Judge Frederick DeVesa cleared him this afternoon of manslaughter counts arising from the fatal Christmas Eve shooting last Dec. 24 of his cousin Dwayne Gilyard, 18, of Jersey City.

Superior Court Judge Frederick DeVesa, sitting in New Brunswick, said the shooting was an accident, but found Camacho, 21, of Carteret guilty of simple assault and a weapons offense.

"I'm happy. I'm thankful. I'm very grateful," Camacho said outside a Middlesex County courtroom after the judge announced his verdict.

Camacho said he never intended to hurt his cousin. "Of course not. He's like my brother," the defendant said.

Camacho faces up to five years in prison when he is sentenced Feb. 1, but he avoided a 30-year prison term that an aggravated manslaughter conviction could have brought.

During a non-jury trial last week, Camacho's lawyer, Daniel Welsh of Jersey City, argued the shooting was an accident.

Middlesex County Assistant Prosecutor Ralph Cretella argued that Camacho was playing with the gun, mishandled it and should have known it was loaded. Cretella said the defendant admitted squeezing the trigger three times before the gun fired the bullet that struck Gilyard in the left shoulder.

Gilyard, who was visiting Camacho's family in Carteret for a holiday celebration, was pronounced dead at the scene, Cretella said.

Outside court, the defense attorney said he convinced Camacho to waive his right to a jury trial and let the judge decide the case.